Assignment Four: Broadcast Critique

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For my critique, I listened to the broadcast of the Russia vs. the Czech Republic Olympic ice hockey game on Sunday February 21, 2010 on NBC. The announcers were Eddie Olczyk and Mike Emrick.

At the beginning of the game, the two announcers did a fantastic job of establishing the players’ history, as many of them are from the NHL. Many people who watch the Olympics don’t necessarily watch hockey, so it was important to give the players’ teams and stats from that year. However, after a bit, the background information became overwhelming. It would have been much more effective if it had been spread out throughout the broadcast.

Assignment Three: Opinion Piece

One of the few things that I hate in the world of sports is the blatant sexism. As a girl who has grown up surrounded by sports, it is absolutely demeaning to see the way that women are treated, in all aspects of the industry.

I went to my first Philadelphia Phillies game when I was just over a year old. And from then on, there wasn’t a time in my life that I didn’t have a favorite player—from Kevin Stocker to Rico Brogna to Mike Lieberthal. I went to spring training when I was five years old. I watch the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game every year, and I almost made it to the end of the 2008 game. I do my best to make it to at least one game every year and I watched every moment of the 2008 road to the World Series, despite my roommates’ disdain. I, like many other Phillies and sports fans, cried when I heard the news that the Phillies’ announcer Harry Kalas had died.

Assignment Two: 3 Article Comparison

I’m reviewing three articles from the Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota Wild game from February 6, 2010.  The pieces are from an established Flyers blog from SB Nation that runs on Yahoo!, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and NHL.com.

Assignment One: A Critique

Puck Daddy is a hockey blog hosted by Yahoo! Sports.  It’s a blog that I read daily, and that I truly enjoy.  I picked out this particular article, NCAA Hockey 101: Oh boy, it's Beanpot time in Boston, because I found it particularly interesting.  I don’t know much about college hockey or the Beanpot, and I found that this article explained it in a way that was perfect for its intended audience.  It was neither demeaning nor condescending; instead, it took on a lighthearted and even sarcastic tone to explain the tournament.  I feel like this approach, while maybe not acceptable in print form, it is definitely appropriate in a blog format.  I also enjoyed that the writer’s opinion was incorporated in a way in which it was distinguishable from the facts of the article.  I could easily discern the two.  Obviously, a tournament of such magnitude is bound to have a rich history.  The writer weaves the historical statistics into the article without making it feel overwhelming or like a history lesson.  The first part of this article is successful in accomplishing exactly what it set out to do: inform the audience about the Beanpot.  When I finished this segment I felt that I understood not only what the tournament was, but what it has been as well.